For Satellites, Service on High

Commercial Pact Between Intelsat, Canadian Firm to Offer Maintenance and Refueling in Orbit

By
Andy Pasztor

Updated March 15, 2011 8:44 pm ET

Commercial-satellite operator Intelsat SA and Canadian aerospace contractor MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates Ltd. have signed the first commercial contract to refuel and service satellites in orbit.

If the complex technical systems perform as advertised during the second half of this decade, experts predict the technologies could fundamentally reshape the economics of the global satellite industry.